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5.1 ACTIVATION
a
Activate the ABS
®
Avalanche Airbag without
hesitation as soon as you become aware of an
avalanche. It is better to activate once too often
than not at all.
a
To activate pull hard and fast on the activation
handle and try to escape. The airbags are
self inflating, independent of whether you are
skiing, are falling, are lying on top of the airbag
or are already captured by the moving snow.
The inflated airbags will not compromise your
possible escape or avoidance of rocks etc., which
you should always try to do.
5.2 HANDLING YOURSELF DURING THE AVALANCHE
a
Once you have activated, only concentrate on
your fall line. The way that the airbags are
attached on the sides of the pack allows you
to freely move your arms. Fight by swimming
and pushing away obstacles. Try to steady
yourself and protect your head. The shape of the
airbags will help to protect your head without
compromising your movements and ability to
see. Try to twist out of your ski bindings. Never
put your hands through the pole straps and
never use safety straps with your bindings. If
possible, keep your mouth closed.
a
When the avalanche is coming to a halt, try to
keep your upper body and arms above the snow
and free yourself from the avalanche as soon as
possible.
5.3 AFTER THE AVALANCHE
a
Find a safe place. Try to help other victims if
possible. Only deflate the airbags when there
is absolute certain-ty that there is no longer
any danger of avalanches and attach another
cartridge and activation handle immediately if
possible. In case you are still in an avalanche
prone area, leave the airbags inflated.
5.4 INTERNATIONAL AVALANCHE ACCIDENT
DATABASE
a
Please report any practical use of your ABS
®
avalanche airbag. The findings of all examples
of practical use across the globe are collected
by the Österreichisches Kuratorium für Alpine
Sicherheit (Austrian Alpine Safety Board)
and are especially important for research
and development. You can find all the key
information on our website www.abs-airbag.
com.
a
Please fill out the online form in full and also
send the information regarding your avalanche
accident to your ABS
®
Service Centre when you
send your backpack for inspection.
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HANDLING DURING AVALANCHE INCIDENT
HOW ABS WORKS
a
With the ABS
®
Avalanche Airbag you have
purchased a device based on many years of
experience in avalanche research, rescue and
statistics. Led by the one out-standing fact, that
a predominant number of all avalanche victims
(skiers and snowboarders) are still alive when the
avalanche comes to a halt. However, most of them
are buried, are unable to free themselves and are
often not visible to the rescuer.
a
And this is where the race with death begins
and is lost by those victims, who are totally
buried and have blocked airways.
a
The main obstacle for a successful rescue is
when the burial depth is one meter or more.
Often the time it takes to shovel these victims out
of such depths of snow exceeds their survival
time. Therefore, it is vital to prevent a burial as
well as possible.
a
One pull of the activation handle and within
seconds the ABS
®
Avalanche Airbag provides the
physical prerequisites for this to happen.
a
The moving snow flushes large volume objects
to the surface. If these objects have a smaller
dimensional weight than the surrounding snow,
they will stay at the surface. The additional airbag
volume of 170 litres helps that you will stay on top
of the moving snow. The weight, shape as well as
the attachment of the airbags, also contribute to
this. A large surface area combined with a flexible
attachment that fits close to the body convert the
flow force into buoyancy. The ABS
®
Avalanche
Airbag System has already prevented hundreds of
snow enthusiasts from being buried.
ENGLISH